Tucker doesn't like kibble ...

by **BabyReba** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 2:43 pm

This has been something of a problem his whole life ... he just does not like kibble. We feed kibble now because I don't have room for a freezer to do raw where I'm at now, and I tried storing enough food in our own freezer for a while so I could feed it here, but it's just too small.

So now I've got a dog that will maybe eat about half his food, or maybe eat a meal when he's hungry, then not eat for a day, then eat for 2 days, then maybe nibble for a day or two. It's making me nuts. He's got an appetite--he wants to eat anything and everything BUT kibble--but he's pretty persistent about turning his nose up at dry food. I keep my dogs pretty lean, for the most part, so if he doesn't eat kibble for a day or two, I worry and break down and give him something else mixed into it so he'll eat it.

I know this sounds like a big, old non-issue, but it's kinda stressful to me for some reason. I want to do the "he'll eat when he's hungry," but I don't want him to lose weight. And obviously, I can't easily put weight on him if he's not going to heartily eat the staple food in his diet.

I've tried:

Taste of the Wild
California Natural
Nature's Domain
Hi-Tek Naturals (which has been his least fave so far)

Does anyone have any super-finicky eaters? What do you feed? Do you do the "eat when he's hungry" thing, even if the dog seems like he's content to nibble his regular food and chow down on however many training treats he can get in the course of a day?

by **GoingPostal** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 4:10 pm

Well it sounds like he'll eat if you mix something in, I know some would view it as giving in but if it keeps him eating I would just mix in a little canned food, it's good for the moisture anyways but might get spendy. On the Dane forum I read on there seems to be a ton of people with crazy picky dogs, like will not eat the same thing for more than a couple days. The one lady has been using that Dr. Harveys mix in with meat with good success, the other has been ping ponging from raw to home cooked to kibble to whatever, both dogs are underweight and just will not give into the eat this or else routine. Funny you have one dog who won't eat kibble and one dog who will eat anything he can fit in his mouth? Is Button the good pup here? lol

by **Misskiwi67** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 4:26 pm

Will he eat kibble if there's canned food mixed in or water added to it?

Have you considered some of the dehydrated foods? My dogs go bonkers for that stuff (they had it for thanksgiving dinner), maybe you could soak kibble in it to make it last longer and still not let your pup know its kibble?

by **Ilovethepits** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 5:12 pm

Lily is pretty picky about food, especially kibble. She'll spit out anything new to her and look at it (even the newest dehydrated homemade treats), nose it around and then if she wants she'll eat it.

She often eats only part of her dinner if it is just kibble. So since she is pretty lean anyway and I have transitioned them to the Sensicare Holistic Complete I cook up some chicken in water and then I use the broth and a few pieces of chicken on her food and she'll eat it all.

It freaked me out for some time because Kaiser will eat anything - and I mean anything!

by **BabyReba** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 5:33 pm

doc is ravenous and will indeed eat EVERYTHING!

poor tucker is the pickiest dog EVER ... misskiwi, he does like dehydrated treats that i make for them, so maybe i'll just try mixing up some dehydrated dog foods and see how he likes them. maybe they will help solve the problem. i am glad to hear that there are other dog out there that are really this difficult about food ... i've never had a dog that didn't love to eat, and even tucker is VERY food motivated ... at least for food he likes, and kibble does not seem to fall under the "stuff Tucker likes" category.

button is my unpicky little sweetie, and he's grateful for his food every night but does not succumb to urges to eat socks and trash, so in this regard, he is my good boy! lol

by **Munkos** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 5:59 pm

My three now will eat anything and everything put infront of them - food or not. If we tell them to eat it, they will lol

This makes pill giving EASY peasy, but can be a pain in the butt for the obvious reasons.

Our old guy however, pickiest eater, EVER. He hated most foods - but loved treats. He'd eat his kibble if we treated it as treats and made him do tricks for it lol

. However, we did just let him eat when he wanted to. With him we had the luxury of free feeding, so we just left his food down. It'd go untouched for a day or two, then all of a sudden he'd just eat it all, rinse repeat. He'd get picker as we got down to the bottom of a bag (stale, maybe?). He never got too skinny though. He never let himself get to that point, until he got older and started to get sick. Then we did all sorts of tricks to get him to eat (hiding cat food in the bottom, feeding his whole 4 cups by hand, drizzling juice from tuna on it, etc) - but his lack of appetite wasn't due to his being picky at that point, it was his illnesses.

by **julie64** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 6:15 pm

When Shay started losing interest in food, I switched her to this and she loved it.http://www.backtobasicspetfood.com/
Sassy is a very picking eater and I do mix in some wet to get her to eat.

by **star_frances** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 6:20 pm

My mom's dog can be picky that way sometimes, but she'll eat whatever kibble I offer her (they're on TOTW) if I put some warm water on it and let it sit for a minute or two. Mmm, gravy!

by **starrlamia** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 8:11 pm

Grendel is the same way, I mix up brands every bag to help keep him interested and just go with his lead. I figure he won't completely starve himself.

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by **jamielvsaustin** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 10:01 pm

We bought the mystery box the other day in doggyloot and this came in it. The dogs really like it...(we also add warm water). Do you think it might be something you could try?

by **PitBull-Lady** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 10:20 pm

I was actually going to suggest taking something like dried tripe and mixing it in. If I ever take a 'treat' and dust it over their food it is as if it is brand new food.

But if could be a texture thing. Does he just not like the feel of it on his teeth for instance? I don't think I read if you had tried adding simple water to the kibble. It can be annoying to have to get the food 'ready' but it is an easy fix if that is all it is.

by **FransterDoo** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 10:32 pm

Erin - The Honest Kitchen offers sampler packs. That might be a good option to try.

http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/products/taster-kits/

http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/product ... ize-boxes/

by **Mooresmajestic** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 11:49 pm

I had the same issue when I first took in Sune. I didn't have the luxury of waiting her out since she was about 1# underweight and on a 5# (now) dog that was a lot. I started just mixing the kibble with canned food (I used Tiki Dog) and slowly weaned her off the canned to dry kibble. It did take about 4 months till she would eat straight kibble and still to this day she will only eat in the same room I'm in and only if the light is on. (Although I think this has to do more with how she spent the first 6 years of her life than anything else) But she will now eat whatever I put in her dish. I also found fishy foods seemed to go over better in the beginning. I think it had to do with the strong smell.

by **mtlu** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 2:25 am

Do his teeth line up okay or is his bite funny because of his pronounced underbite? I wonder also if letting his kibble soften in a bit of water could help.

by **FBODGRL** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 2:28 am

I have been using honest kitchen for my 1 cat who is having issues keeping real raw down. She goes completely nutso for it! My parents dog is the pickiest eater I have ever seen. They are feeding Holistic select and he is eating that well.